An Unclear Path
by Duthae cilthri
Summary: Follow Clare, an understanding and trusting young elf, on her accidental journey to Alagaesia where she is looked for by many; Galbatorix and others see her as a valuable weapon. Soon, her life turns into a web of complication...will she and her friends survive everything? And if she does, what kind of person will she become?
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: Hey readers! So this story was originally written just for fun, but I thought it might be a good idea to post it and share it. The ideas and characters are slightly based on dreams I had. But any characters you do recognize are not mine and belong to their respective fandoms and authors. Also, I wasn't sure which fandom to post this in, so things might not fit perfectly well.

Also, be warned: this is a multi-fandom story; there are characters from Percy Jackson and The Inheritance Cycle. Also, the main character, Clare, is an elf, living on Earth... this also came from the dream and is a lot to explain, but hopefully it won't be a big deal for the story.

I originally posted this story on my other account a few years ago, but left it unfinished. Then, years later, I decided I would finish it, but reupload it on this account. I really hope you guys enjoy it!

 **Chapter 1**

After a long and rather dry day of work, Clare picked up her files, and drove home in her cute little car. (No surgeries were done today, therefore the day was dry). Once she was home, she washed up and prepared a bowl of noodles. It was great, how eating unhealthy food often wouldn't really make her gain weight or become out of shape.

Just as Clare was settling in to watch some TV with her bowl of noodles, there was a phone call. The caller ID revealed the caller's name.

Scott.

Oh. It was just her little brother. But, it would be nice to hear his voice, after months of not talking to him, or any other family members, except for her sister, Emma.

"Hi, Scottttttt!" Clare exclaimed enthusiastically.

"GUESS WHAT?" William yelled right into her ear.

"WHAT?" She yelled back.

"I'm getting married!" After that, there was some more screaming on the phone that was hard to decipher.

Wow. Scott was getting married. For some reason, that came as a shock. But of course he'd be the first one of them to get married. There was the initial oh-I'm-still-single-and-30-but-he's-24-and-getting-married feeling, but it vanished quickly. After the message sunk in, Clare felt a strong feeling of happiness and pride come over her, for her younger brother.

"CONGRATULATIONS! I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS! I'LL GIVE YOU A BIG HUG ASAP!"

"THE WEDDING IS IN FOUR DAYS! I hope you can make it! Sorry, I forgot to send out invitations before. I meant to, but it's okay. You can come, right?"

"Of course, I wouldn't miss my annoying little brother's wedding. Where is it?"

"Oh, it's in Korea."

"WHAT? YOUR WEDDING IS IN KOREA AND YOU THOUGHT YOU WOULDN'T TELL ME UNTIL FOUR DAYS BEFORE?"

Scott said sheepishly, "Yeah, we were going to have it just here in Victoria, but Lily said she really wanted to have it in Korea. You can still make it, right?"

Clare sighed. That would mean taking a few days off work. And this was on such short notice. Typical Scott... But she couldn't miss her brother's wedding. But there was just so much to prepare. She would have to get a nice dress for the wedding, reception, whatever else there was. And the plane tickets…

Clare thought, "Okay. I guess family comes first."

"Oh, are you there? Clare? Sister?" Scott asked.

"I'll be there."

"Oh, by the way, I booked and paid for your plane tickets," William said. "And we already have a dress picked out for you. Don't worry, Em and Lily picked it, not Mom."

A wave of relief and new joy washed over her. Wow, she didn't see that coming. Now she could take a break from work (she loved work, but a break was always much appreciated). And Scott would be paying for the plane, so what was the worry? A free trip to Korea, wow. Well then…this was definitely a treat.

"Airplanes are actually so boring," Clare thought as she was reading her book. This was her third hour of being on the plane, and all she could do was read, sleep (in a comfy but confined chair), and look out the window. Three hours of that is no fun. Plus, the man beside her was not helping at all. He was a small man named Harpreet. He had been fun to talk to at first, but now he had fallen asleep. That was not a problem…but his snoring sure was. Ugh. No. And his stretchy sleeping habits had forced her to move away and squeeze herself onto the edge of the chair.

"Ugh, I wish I could just escape this place," she muttered under her breath.

Right as she said that, the plane took a heavy lurch. Some people gasped. Harpreet stayed asleep. The other passengers started tensing up and whispering to each other.

"What if the plane's running out of gas?" Someone said loudly. This started off a chain of shouts and concerns. "I don't wanna die!" "We're gonna crash!"

Clare felt sweat roll down her forehead. What if she died, right here? Fear took her. It almost overwhelmed her. What if this was the end?

After some scratching on the microphone, an announcement came on. "Passengers, the pilot has just informed me that we are fortunately not out of gas, like some of you are concerned about. However-"

This is when most of the passengers started to freak out and yell. "We're going to crash!" "We're all gonna die!" Not super helpful to anyone at the moment. Clare gulped, trying to calm herself down.

"However," the speaker continued, "We are seeing some unfamiliar cloud activity and harsh wind activity. I suggest that all of you turn ar-"

Before he could finish his sentence, the plane, along with all its passengers, was sucked into a cloud. Then all Clare could see was blackness, until she reached unconsciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Clare woke up, feeling achy all over. She was lying down on her side, with the cold wind beating around her. She attempted to get up, but her leg hurt. "It's probably broken," she thought. It wasn't a bad injury though; with some work, it would be fine. Plus, she was an elf, and she could heal faster than humans. Without leaning on her hurting left leg too much, Clare lifted herself up, only to fall back down. She felt dizzy and for a moment, her vision was white. After waiting for her eyes to see normally again, she got up and walked around. Where was she? It looked like she was in a nice farming village. Green grass, cows, cute little barns with thatched roofs… But there was no plane around her….

Why did this place look so ancient? It looked like it could've been from the Middle Ages, seriously. Maybe not that old, but it still looked nothing like what she was used to seeing. And the plane…it wasn't there…there weren't even remnants of it or other people. No Harpreet. It was night-time, so the villagers would be sleeping, but where were the other passengers?

After moments of pure confusion, Clare thought to check out how she was. Her leg was hurting, but everything else was fine. There were bruises here and there, but that was to be expected. Her neck hurt a bit too, but with a few good cracks, it was fine. She took off her boots to see if her toes were okay. They were intact. Her pants didn't have any tears, which was a good sign. Her top had a slight rip on the bottom, but the skin under it was unharmed. Her jacket was also undamaged . Good. It was an expensive jacket. And her carry-on bag was perfectly the same as it was before. Slightly worried, she opened it to see if everything was still in it. Yes. There was her wallet, earplugs, some Band-Aids, a tablet, her phone, a notepad, a pen, her camera, and a pocketknife from Emma. Scott's gift was also there: a small bag of fart bombs (he had made them himself). They could both come in handy. Although she had never used the fart bombs before (hey, that meant there was still a huge supply!) she thought they could still save her life maybe once or twice.

Suddenly, she felt something in her pocket. Hmm. She didn't recall putting anything in her pocket…

"What have I got in my pocket…" she muttered, then chuckled. Hobbit references were always on the tip of her tongue.

Out of her pants pocket, she dug out a small jewel. It wasn't a very large jewel, but it sure did look expensive and beautiful. It was a deep red colour. She studied it closely. Wow, it sure was beautiful. She turned it around and held it up to the moon. Clare let out a small gasp. The gem had changed colour. Instead of being red, it had turned into a rainbow of colours. Just to experiment, Clare turned it away from the moon. The gem reverted back to red. How strange.

"How did this get into _my_ pocket? Whose could it be?" Clare wondered. For some reason, she felt a strange attachment to it, like she didn't want to let it go, or give it away. She felt like she should keep it safe. Maybe until the right owner came along, she'd hold onto it safely.

She put in into the secret compartment in her bag. It was best to keep it secret. An expensive gem like that could bring lots of unwanted attention and thieves.

She took out her cell phone. Maybe there would be service? But no, to her great disappointment, no matter how high she held up her phone, there was nothing. No wifi, no service.

"Great. How am I gonna call for help now?" Clare wondered. This was the middle of nowhere. For all she knew, this could be some creepy cannibal village. These people could eat her. Wow. And they probably wouldn't even be advanced enough to sautee her or grill her or something like that…none of that juicy Hannibal stuff would happen. Well, if this place even was a cannibal town.

She put her bag on and approached a house. It was simple, with a thatched roof and a wooden porch. Quite cosy.

"What kind of cannibal lives in a beautiful house like this?" Clare thought. Maybe this whole cannibal deal was just her imagination running too wild. But she saw something that made her think again.

There was a pile of mail by the door. It was tempting to sift through… Oh, whatever, no one will know that she looked! There were tax letters and such, nothing out of the ordinary. That is, nothing out of the ordinary…except for a strange looking piece of meat wrapped in a brown bag of hide.

Clare had no problem dealing with organs but…this organ was strange smelling and just…not chicken/pork/beef/lamb/fish for sure. She took a whiff. It didn't smell that familiar. What could it be? Her mind leapt to many different possibilities. Alligator? Bear?

The sound of footsteps brought her out of her thoughts. "Hello," a man said warily.

"Hi," Clare said, straightening up and putting the meat down.

"I see the meat's interested you."

"Not really. I eat like this all the time," Clare said, trying to act normal.

"Hmm…you're not from around here, are you?" The man asked, stepping closer.

"Well…no. I'm just a passerby. I'm leaving soon."

"Surely you can stay a little longer?" The man stepped closer. He was at least three metres away from her now. As he was moving toward her, Clare noticed something that caught her eye. A glint. The man had a knife! She could get mugged. Oh shit, time to go.

"I gotta go," Clare said quickly. "Bye."

She casually tried to leave, but the man tackled her. He brandished his knife slowly. He lunged. Before he could sink it into her skin, Clare grabbed his hand, twisting it. He yelped in pain, letting go of her and the knife, which she grabbed. She stood up quickly and regained her composure.

The man staggered up as well, with an angry glint in his eye. He made his way over to Clare. By instinct, she threw the knife at him. It hit him squarely on his chest. He staggered, holding his chest, attempting to get the knife out. His mouth started bleeding, and he collapsed. After hesitating for a few seconds, Clare walked away. Her first thought, other than "Is he dead?" was to get out of this place. It probably was a cannibal-infested place, considering the meat and all. She had no vehicle, but she was an elf. She could run. Just as she was about to leave the horrid place, a dire cry stopped her.

"Wait!"

It sounded like a boy, possibly a man. Either way, it sounded pretty desperate, like he needed help. Well, maybe he was somebody else's dinner. She looked around for the owner of the voice, but even after surveying the area several times, she was unsuccessful.

"Here!" The voice said again. It sounded weak and dehydrated.

She turned around again. Where was it coming from? Finally, she spotted a boy. No, not a boy. He looked to be in his early twenties. His greasy but beautiful blonde hair shone in the moonlight. He was tied to a post. He looked sickly, like he was going to pass out any second.

"Help me," he pleaded before falling into unconsciousness.


End file.
